Tag: Health and Fitness »

Bobaka is releasing a new interactive book called Green Riding Hood in May. The app teaches kids about yoga andorganic style of life through mini-games and a fun take on the classic Little Red Riding Hood fairy tale. In this story, however, the wolf won't be eating anyone.

The app features artwork by, award winning illustrator Andrey Gordeev, and is narrated by Scottish actor Alistair Findlay. You can download Green Riding Hood for $2.99 come May 21 on the App Store.

SPECIAL GIVEAWAY: Want your own copy of MotionX Sleep? The developers have given us a link that will send you a unique code to redeem for a FREE copy of the app. Simply click right here to enter. Offer available to US iTunes account holders only.

When I first took a look at MotionX Sleep, I was fairly impressed with all the sleep-monitoring app’s handy functionality. However, that was then. Now MotionX has added a laundry list of new features and tweaks, making it even more formidable in the world of iOS lifestyle software.

Along with a bunch of minor optimizations, a number of features have been directly improved thanks to customer feedback. MotionX Sleep now offers an “audible placement test” to make finding the best spot for the special pillow alarm much easier. The alarm itself has also had an interface tweak, making it easier to set. Sleep history and other statistics can be viewed in one, seven, or thirty-day summaries to give users better detail on their sleep habits. This info can also be shared on Facebook and Twitter as an effective way of convincing our mothers that we are, indeed, getting enough rest.

The Smart Sleep Cycle Alarm has also been improved by way of allowing users to adjust their wake-up window, including new sounds, and adding an optional vibration. Finally, the interface has been adjusted to make certain features easier to customize. The 24/7 Daily Step Counter can be turned on or off from the main menu, and undesired sleep recordings can be deleted straight out of the sleep log.

It’s the little improvements like these that go a long way. While MotionX Sleep was a worthwhile investment for health-conscious iOS users before, it’s even more useful now.

This week at 148Apps, we took your New Year's resolutions seriously and started our "Health and Fitness" month. Editor Rob LeFebvre writes, "We’ve already taken a look at some apps that help us all acheive our goals, and we plan to continue that trend for the entire month, with personal stories from our crack writing team, continued reviews, and focused features like our Favorite Four."

See our first group of Health & Fitness reviews at 148Apps.

Our apps-for-kids site, GiggleApps, offered a review of Odd Spotting. Reviewer Amy Solomon says, "Odd Spotting, developed by Micromicon Media Limit, is an “odd one out” game with 144 levels, the goal of each being to spot the object that is different from all the others in the group. As I began to explore how Odd Spotting works, I couldn’t help but to remember the lyrics from a classic Sesame Street song, “One of these things is not like the others, one of these things just doesn’t belong.”

Learn more and read the full review on GiggleApps.

Finally, on 148Apps.biz, writer Jeff Hughes commented on Apple's recent (and quiet) changes to app categorization on the App Store, saying "Just like Google, when iTunes makes the slightest change to their App Store search algorithm, it has an impact on how many people see your app. The recent changes to the category ordering have also impacted sales for many app vendors for better or worse. Some developers have been helped because their app is now in a category that is displayed higher on the mobile screen...Other developers may be adversely impacted due to the decrease in exposure for their app because their category now appears further down the list."

Read more on 148Apps.biz.

And that, my friends, completes our rundown of happenings across the 148Apps network for the week of January 9-13. Keep track of all the latest news, reviews and contests by following us on Twitter or Liking us on Facebook. See you in a week!

I personally love fitness training apps, especially the ones that tell me what to do at all times. My problem when working out, and this is especially true with running, is that I always want to stop. I can use RunKeeper all day, but after I get past mile 2-3, I start losing interest fast.

lolo Burn is the first running trainer that I know of that not only tracks your progress on a treadmill, but also talks to you along the way. it tells you, in a nice, calm voice (voiced by a real person named Britani, not a scary computer voice) that you need to run for X number of minutes of X speed and X incline. The lolo voice doesn't quite have the motivational skills that my old soccer coach possessed, but I also don't have to be afraid of balls being thrown at my head.

For a bit of extra push, lolo Burn also includes 24 fitness tracks (you can also use your own music) that matches beats with your running pace. The built in music is the typical stuff that you would expect to hear in a Lifetime Fitness aerobics class, but if that's your thing then you are set.

Pick up lolo Burn today for $4.99 at your local App Store, and enjoy your run!